“…It is the quartets that I have grown to enjoy so much. I must give a lot of credit to the superlative performances here.” “… the recorded sound is excellent, as is the entire production. Again and again I have returned to it over the past month and enjoyed every aspect of the performances…”
James Harrington
American Record Guide - May/June 2010
Repertoire ***** Sound **** Interpretation *****
Anja Renczikowski
Ensemble Magazine (Germany) - April/May 2010
“…the Schubert Ensemble’s performances are among the finest international performances. Chandos’ digital sound is immediate yet still atmospheric, a fine combination appropriate to the works and the performances.”
Jim Leonard
AllMusic.com - February 2010
“…they [Schubert Ensemble] obviously have a deep affection for his [Faure] music, which is evident in every bar they play.”
“Key to their success is their refusal to treat Faure like some fragile china doll requiring ever careful handling, instead giving his music red-blooded readings, with incisive playing.”
…”Anyone who finds difficulty in approaching Faure’s chamber music would do well to start here; the utter joy the Schubert Ensemble find in this music may well confound expectations.”
Mark Pullinger
International Record Review - February 2010
“Editor’s Choice”
“…Faure’s music truly lives under the Schubert Ensemble’s fingers. The troubled First Quintet’s full textures are beautifully balanced, harmonic and melodic contrasts are expertly worked, and the musical lines breathe and soar. Then the Second Quintet, written in a pre-retirement demob-happy state of light-heartedness, sounds as fresh as fresh can be. The players male neatly rapid work of the virtuosic passages and beautifully draw out the progressive harmonies and textural variety.” *****
Charlotte Gardner
Classic FM Magazine - March 2010
“It is hard not to be beguiled by the charms of Faure’s First Piano Quintet when played with the kind of understanding displayed by The Schubert Ensemble. …they [The Schubert Ensemble] judge its slow-burning splendour masterfully. The long-breathed melodies of the of the exquisite slow movement are hypnotic, and they mix intensity with panache in the final movement.
They are similarly convincing in the late C minor Quintet, with its air of freedom, having been composed in the wake of Faure’s retirement as direct of the Paris Conservatoire. Certainly the scampering scherzo (Allegro vivo) has the character of a man rejuvenated… The Schubert Ensemble capture this carefree spirit, and show their experience in their control of the slowly increasing pace of the playful final movement. William Howard brings a suitably fleet-fingered lightness of touch to the shyly virtuosic piano part, and each of the string players combines beauty with incisiveness.”
Performance **** - Recording ****
Christopher Dingle
BBC Music Magazine - February 2010
*****
The 24/96 download was sonically less impressive than the orchestral albums I've heard. Almost too beautiful for its own good, a little too rounded for all the detail to emerge. This may have been a balance agreed upon by performers and engineers, but I would have preferred a little more incisiveness and a little more presence for the piano. But the acoustic setting is more spacious than usual for chamber music and very enjoyable, with performances that flow and swirl towards their climaxes.
J Wilson
3 Ratings
